In a Monday statement, the opposition movement blasted the detention and interrogation of numerous Bahraini Shiite clerics as well as the forcible removal of Ashura displays across the Gulf kingdom.

Al-Wefaq described the measures as “a blatant attack on religious freedoms”.

“Every thought or practice that does not appeal to the government is assaulted by its various agencies … without any respect for religion, thought, opinion or the other’s existence,” the statement adds.

Although Ashura is marked by all Muslims, it is a major part of the religious calendar for Shiite communities for whom it is a solemn occasion to mourn the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS) in 680 AD.